In Baker U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,636,318; 4,842,692; 4,842,728; and 4,923,604 a chemical reformer is shown in which organic materials such as municipal waste or coal are chemically reformed by pyrolysis in the presence of water to form desirable oils and gasses from solid materials. The flow arrangement is of the continuous process type, using countercurrent heat exchange so that the organic materials, fluidized with an oil carrier, enter the system cool and then are removed from the system in a substantially cool form as well, with the heat being substantially regenerated from processed outgoing materials to unprocessed incoming materials.
By this invention, a simplified apparatus for chemical reforming is provided, capable of performing the desired conversion of organic materials such as municipal solid waste, coal, hazardous chlorinated solvents, plastics, ground up rubber tire material, sawdust, or any other organic material. Thus, in view of the relative simplicity of the apparatus and method of this invention, organic materials, and even materials considered as waste products, can be chemically reformed into mixtures of flammable oils and gasses which may be used as fuel, chemical feed stocks, or for any other desired purpose.
The apparatus can operate on a continuous process, having an inlet for raw materials, and one or more outlets for the product oils, gasses and solids. The reformed products of the apparatus of this invention may be removed from the system in relatively cool form so that heat is regenerated and not wasted. The relative amounts of gas and oils produced can be adjusted throughout a desired range, particularly by control of the maximum temperature achieved by the organic materials as they pass through the apparatus.
The apparatus of this invention is also capable of reforming halogenated plastics and solvents, many of which are considered to be hazardous materials having a significant environmental threat. Such materials can be passed through a pyrolysis apparatus for chemical reforming similar to the apparatus of this invention, to be converted back into simple, non-halogenated organic species of molecules, with the halogens being typically converted back to their less harmful ionic form, for example chloride.